'Underwater reality' exhibit on show at First Night Monterey

It's not a dream. It's this year's First Night Monterey, beginning at 3 p.m. downtown on Tuesday.

"SeaChanges" will take FNM into its 21st year, guided by executive director Ellen Martin, art director Nina Parris (responsible for the sea creatures, which are made of plastic refuse), and a huge cast of others. This year's program focuses on using art to raise awareness of our impact on the ocean.

With the real Bay and Pacific as background, Dr. Jennifer Colby, a lecturer and adjunct research faculty for CSU Monterey Bay who is an independent curator and artist, is bringing together "an underwater reality" to wow visitors as they enter the Conference Center.

Colby worked with CSUMB students specializing in sound and video technology to bring to life the room through Calypso music and video projections. Students chose FNM to complete their service learning work.

The room will be decorated in part by the fruits of Colby's outreach workshop students. She used her experience in printmaking to lead the kids in printing with plastic bags to create a seaweed effect on large fabric.

The plastic bags were not chosen by chance. Discarded plastics are responsible for killing or injuring more than 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds each year.

Residing just outside Colby's watery world will be the resolution sculpture. The sculpture is a giant fish with its skeleton showing, held aloft by a water goddess. The public will add resolutions on silver "fish scale" papers that will cover the fish, restoring it to life. The message is a hopeful one: We have the power to make a difference.

"You don't know (exactly what it will look like) until it's done. It should be very powerful," said Colby.

Should art have a message? Colby seems to think it's a natural outgrowth. She refers to the community art she's done around watersheds.

"As you gather people together, there's going to be a message because it's about the yearnings of the community.

"I'm amazed at the impact it can have," she said. Curating shows on rivers taught her as much. "You do it (partly) because you love beautiful things, but ... the power of the arts to make people aware and then start a dialogue (is great)."

Naturally, Dec. 31 is just the cumulative celebration of work done year-round by FNM. "All the workshops that built up to this means what you're seeing isn't just one person's artwork," noted Colby. "Part of it is the continuity. Lots of people have embraced this particular theme."

The artist will curate a show at the Museum of Monterey soon that includes a SeaChanges exhibit. Colby's art for the show will be monotypes on paper that illustrate stories of people through history who fished in Monterey.

If you're looking for something musically ocean-centered for New Year's Eve, try the reggae sounds of One A-Chord, whose members represent the island cultures of Hawaii, Somoa, the Philippines, New Zealand and Japan.

"That was kind of the whole meaning of the name One A-Chord," said lead guitarist Rory Clendon, referring to the blending of backgrounds.

FNM 2014 will be the first time the band has performed at the perennial event.

When their shot came around, the group didn't hesitate.

"We definitely jumped on it. We are Monterey natives, so it's something that's very big to us," said One A-Chord keyboardist Kawika Brickwood.

Brickwood's musical sensibilities were influenced by his Hawaiian grandfather, a member of the Monterey Ukulele Club. "He picked up the ukulele, and he just couldn't put it down," Brickwood said.

Clendon has discovered more of his Maori background since joining the band.

"I've learned a lot about my own culture, ironically enough, from these guys," he said, referencing his bandmates.

Originating as a trio of family members playing luaus and private parties, the group has evolved in the past couple of years to play clubs and tours.

According to the musicians, reggae was a natural progression from the days of Hawaiian music. Clendon, however, arrived via an AC/DC cover band. A traditional rock enthusiast, it was the vocals that sold him on hearing his future bandmates play.

Clendon calls First Night "a perfect fit for us," and says he wants to "put Monterey a little bit more on the map with music."

"We're just about trying to spread good music," said Brickwood, "and have people come out and have a good time."

Other potential contributors to that good time might be another of the more than two dozen performers — maybe one of the finale bands: Mike Beck and the Bohemian Saints or blues guitarist Chris Cain.

There is also the Bay Area arts collective that will turn Colton lawn into an interactive seascape, the Monterey Bay Teen Film series at the Golden State, and FNM Artist in Residence, MC Lars, featuring music created at youth workshops.

From hip-hop to belly dance, whether you want to watch dance or do it yourself, FNM 2014 has lots on hand, starting with excerpts from Fran Spector Atkins' composition combining dance and messages of conservation in "Ocean" — a collaboration between Spector Dance and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

"Just Dance!" uses Wii to get New Year's revelers moving; Ash Dance promises to "Groove like Bollywood;" and the Bubble Stomp holds promise as its own unique rhythmic experience.

In short, this New Year's Eve, Monterey will be teeming with life. Let's "SeaChanges" and be sure the same is true for our oceans of the future.